Israeli officials were outraged on Tuesday after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis by Hamas "did not happen in a vacuum," and that the "Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation."
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Video: Ambassador Erdan attacks the UN secretary general / Dor Malul
Israeli Ambassador to the UN took to Twitter to slam the UN chief, saying he could no longer carry out his job impartially.
"The @UN Secretary-General, who shows understanding for the campaign of mass murder of children, women, and the elderly, is not fit to lead the UN. I call on him to resign immediately. There is no justification or point in talking to those who show compassion for the most terrible atrocities committed against the citizens of Israel and the Jewish people. There are simply no words," Erdan wrote.
At the same time, in a powerful demonstration of solidarity, protesters demanding the release of the captives surrounded UN offices in New York, holding pictures of the captives, red flowers, and Israeli flags. The families of the captives had arrived in New York to exert pressure on world leaders and international organizations and to meet with American officials. There was also a display of shoes of the captives next to their photos.
Video: Shoes of the captives displayed next to their photos in New York / Dor Malul
Minister without portfolio and head of the State Party Benny Gantz tweeted a response on his Twitter account, writing: "Days when the UN Secretary-General legitimizes terror are dark days for the world. There is no way to justify the killing of innocent civilians. Those who are not on the right side of history will be judged by it. Those who provide charity to terror do not deserve to speak in the name of the world."
Guterres did say that there is no justification for the Hamas "horrifying and unprecedented Oct. 7 acts of terror" and called for the immediate release of all captives, but also implied that Israel'sa actions were to blame for the massive slaughter of some 1400 Israeli residents in what was the worse mass killing of Jews since the Holocaust.
In a tweet that was released shortly before the Security Council meeting on the Middle East on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen wrote: "I will not meet with the UN Secretary-General. After the October 7 massacre, there is no place for a balanced approach. Hamas must be erased off the face of the planet!"
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